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I'm angry. Actually I'm livid. No, no, make that furious. Something has been bothering me more than watching a five-hour compilation DVD of The Great Khalis greatest matches. While suffering gallstones. And being covered in weeping boils. And having red-hot pokers jammed up my nostrils. And...you get the picture.

Steroids. An obvious and easy target for someone to criticize granted, though my gripe is an offshoot from the usual critiquing. I'll try to sum it up in one sentence: PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE. Allow me to elaborate. I'm not saying that Joe Public is not bothered by steroids, far from it, perhaps what I should've wrote was: PUBLIC SELECTIVE ACCEPTANCE. What has really got my goat is the revising of the facts by wrestling fans across the world.

For years 'fans' have waxed lyrically of their disdain for 'juiced-up muscle-heads' that have little talent, and no place in a wrestling ring. Recently I read an article in a magazine that is a year or two old. This particular contributor stated that he had had enough of quote 'useless bodybuilders' like Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns, Sylvain Grenier etc., and wanted to see more Eddie Guerreros and Chris Benoits.

To me that statement reeks of the worst kind of hypocrisy. It's almost as if he was saying it's ok to have a super-human physique as long as you are proficient in the squared circle (or should that be hexagonal circle for TNA fans). That is wrestling's real shame. Take The Dynamite Kid. Dynamite, the greatest wrestler this writer has ever seen, was an admitted steroid abuser.

He was a well toned, short, muscular man who had wrestling skills coming out of every pore, and whose series of matches with Tiger Mask have reached legendary status in the years since. What is rarely brought up though is the fact that he was a steroid taker. Now compare THAT to Road Warrior Hawk.

Hawk was an incredibly successful performer, with partner Animal, he lifted AWA, NWA, WWF and All Japan tag team gold. Together they were one of the biggest acts of the eighties, and yet he was often described as nothing more than a talent-less bouncer in make up. Is the message coming through loud and clear yet" Why does one rule apply for some, and another rule for others" Why was Eddie Guerrero never remonstrated for his obvious (and later proved) steroid use" Why has The Ultimate Warrior faced years of jibes about his chemical physique and lack of ability and yet Chris Benoit (who may or may not use steroids) with his quite frankly monstrous physique (a body which dwarfs his idol Dynamites by the way) receives nothing but universal praise"

I find this a really difficult subject to write about, as people will probably take it to mean I mark out for Warrior and hate Benoit, which is simply not true. For every Dynamite, Guerrero, Eddie Gilbert, plus active pro-workers: Benoit (allegedly), AJ Styles (allegedly), Shelton Benjamin (allegedly), there's Hawk, Warrior, Hercules Hernandez, Rick Rude, Chris Candido and presently: Bobby Lashley (allegedly), Batista (allegedly), Gene Snitzky (allegedly) and many more. Criticism for great workers sadly seems to be swept under that rug, where it will remain until their families receive that most dreaded of phone calls.

by Terry 'BammBamm' Russell ..